Leavenworth Depot and Railroad Company Records

Manuscript Collection No. 104

Introduction

The Leavenworth Depot and Railroad Company was organized in 1887 by the Missouri Pacific Railway Co.; the Union Pacific Railway Co.; the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway Co.; the Kansas Central Railway Co.; the Kansas City, Wyandotte, and Northwestern Railway Co.; and the Leavenworth, Topeka, and Southwestern Railway Co. to operate a joint depot facility in Leavenworth, Kansas. The depot company was active until approximately 1960. The company was only responsible for providing services and maintenance at the depot and divided costs and profits among member companies on a proportional basis.

Scope and Content

The minutes of the stockholder and board of directors meetings provide information about the official actions of these groups on behalf of the company including election of directors and company officers, determining general policies, salary changes, and the like. The stockholder and board of directors material also includes calls for meetings and proxies for directors unable to attend the meetings. The bulk of the information about the company is found in the correspondence files of the depot superintendent and company officials. Topics discussed range from correspondence about periodic payments to retire the company’s debt, personnel problems, accident and damage claims against the depot company, to correspondence with the United States Railroad Administration during World War I. These files contain letters about a prolonged controversy between the depot company and the Chicago and Great Western Railroad Co. regarding its failure to pay bills assessed by the depot company. Several groups of letters illustrate the procedure, including investigations when necessary, for settling claims regarding accidents and / or damages. When Leavenworth experienced a typhoid epidemic, federal health officials inspected the depot and recommended changes. Efforts to comply with these recommendations are detailed in the correspondence files. The correspondence also depicts some of the day-to-day problems of depot operations, such as requests for passes, the selection of paper drinking cups, handling mail from the trains, installing coin-operated stalls in the restrooms, bonding employees, and purchasing insurance to cover depot property and operations. Communications with federal (Interstate Commerce Commission) and state regulatory and taxing agencies are represented in the general files, while reports and returns to these agencies are filed separately.

In addition to the depot superintendent materials are correspondence files relating to depot maintenance and to the activities of the ticket agent. There are leases and contracts for depot concessions or repair and remodeling work required at the depot. World War I is represented in the collection by the U. S. Railroad Administration in the general files, in the circulars and bulletins it issued, various reports prepared for the administration, and a separate set of accounting books for the period of its existence. The collection also contains some correspondence and daily reports of troop movements through Leavenworth Depot during World War II.

The financial records in the collection consist of monthly “statements of operations,” journals that summarize company transactions on a monthly basis, ledgers that served as the original entries for specific items in specific accounts, cash books, voucher and bills collectible registers, letterpress copies of bills and vouchers, and time books for employees. Sample forms used in daily operations and bills with information about local businesses have also been retained.

The collection gives a fairly detailed picture of the activities of a depot company, though the bulk of the material is from approximately 1900-1925. It can provide information about the specific company, depot companies in general, depot companies in relation to railroads, relationships between the railroad industry and state and federal governments, and information about Leavenworth, Kansas to enumerate a few topics.